Okema set to rebuild Makerere

By Kiganda Ssonko IT has been a very tough journey to the Makerere University guild Presidency for Dennis Okema. He had to convince the students that he is the most capable in the hotly contested race. A second year student of Development Studies and a staunch member of the Uganda People’s Congress, Okema was pronounced the winner on April 16, by chairman electoral commission, Robert Bautu, after beating his two closest rivals, Abass Agaba and Stella Khamba. Okema, 22, was born in 1979 to the late Oryem George of Pabo village in Kilak County, Gulu district and was brought up by Abitum Odongkara, a nun, who takes care of orphans.The leadership fortunes for Okema have not just started now at the university, but way far back in Unifat Primary School, where he was the head prefect. Then in Gulu High School in S.3, he was elected national speaker, Uganda National Students Association (UNSA). Okema, a tall dark Acholi with a lot of confidence, narrates, “Basing on my clear and pro-students’ manifesto, whose provisions are mainly focused on the problems of the university, my victory therefore, became inevitable. All of us promised good things but mine were expressed in very good English. That is where I stood above others.” Okema, a man with rare skills in oratory says, “Considering the image and the integrity of our university in Uganda and in Africa at large, there are a lot of problems that call for immediate attention both by the government and the university administration so as to improve on academics and living conditions. ends